Kalpa Pokemon: Odyssey of Fate
by Zakman
Summary: Hiro, JD, and Lilly embark on a quest to immerse themselves in the world of Pokemon while solving a mystery that transcends time and distance: The mystery of the legendary pokemon and the prototype pokeball.


Kalpa Pokemon: Odyssey of Fate

A Johto-Kanto Prefecture Fanfic

Chapter Prologue: Remnants of the Past

Our story begins with a tale fourteen years prior to the present day. One cold night in New Bark Town, amongst the fleeting melody of the rain, Professor Elm and his faithful team of scientists were hard at work in the professor's laboratory. What they were working on was a highly classified project involving the legendary pokemon. For many generations, these mystical creatures have eluded mankind and those that sought them. For Elm, to capture one of these beasts and to study their nature was the ultimate goal he and his team were striving for.

"What's the status on the project?" Elm asked a bit nervously.

"At ninety percent, Professor, and the machine is holding steady," Elaina, one of his assistants replied as she monitored the readings displayed on the computer.

Elm sighed a bit in relief and looked at a glass cylinder device stationed in the middle of the lab surrounded by huge machinery and computers. Inside this device, a red laser scanner beam was at work creating a prototype pokeball. As the scanner moved up and down slowly, the red beam carved along the ball with pristine accuracy at a high powered output. If all went wrong, it would have spelled disaster for not only the research, but the researchers as well.

"Come on…come on…," Elm said, even more nervous than before.

The monitor showed the percentage rising as one of his assistants shouted the results, "Ninety two percent and rising….Ninety four percent….Ninety six percent….".

As the percentage rose, the atmosphere in the room grew silent. Elm grew sweaty from his nervousness. His face however, showed determination. It was the face of a man who had pride in his years of dedicated research and passion. For him, this pride was on the line, and should this experiment fail, it would mean all his years of research were for naught. The main computer made a sound as the cylindrical device slowly reset itself and opened to reveal its contents.

Elaina shouted in cheerful glee, "One hundred percent! It's finished Professor!" Professor Elm smiled and bent back with a sigh of pleasant relief. He was met with thunderous applause from his staff.

"We did it…," Elm said cheerfully to his staff, "I couldn't have made this accomplishment without you all to help me."

"What are you waiting for sir? Inspect it to see if the machine did it right," One of his fellow scientists told him. Elm nodded to them and then went to the cylindrical device. His fingers twitching and his heart pulsating at a quickened pace, he slowly reached and collected the ball.

Though it was a bit hot from the lengthy processing, the ball shone brightly in Elm's hand.

"Beautiful….absolutely beautiful," he said as he inspected it from every angle possible.

He looked to the foreman on duty, "Get Professor Oak, and Mr. Pokemon on the line as quickly as possible. Let them know we have successfully created the prototype ball."

"Yes sir! Right away!" the foreman said as he dashed away to the telecommunications room in the lab.

Upon placing the ball back into the cylindrical device for safe keeping he looked to his team, "Let's all commemorate this event with a good dinner while we wait for Professor Oak and Mr. Pokemon's reply."

The team members nodded before following him to the break room of the lab. Unbeknownst to them, a boy at the tender age of ten was watching the whole time in fascination from a window. He was wearing a rain coat to keep himself from getting soaked in the rain. Just like Elm and the scientists that made it, he too was fascinated with the ball. The boy dreamt of being a scientist when he grew up. Just by seeing this breakthrough in scientific achievement in pokemon research, he was honored to witness it. He was hoping to get a good look at the ball too once everyone was away.

The boy wasn't the only one that had a fascination on the ball. Two Team Rocket grunts snuck amongst the darkness to the lab and was preparing for intrusion. It turns out that Team Rocket caught wind of the classified project through their various spy networks. Like the boy, they too, were waiting for the lab cleared of all personnel. However their intention for the ball, like their modus operandi, was for evil intentions.

One grunt prepared a glass cutting mechanism as he looked to his partner, "Just like we planned…Once the glass is cut, get ready to run in and snag the ball while I plant our escape."

The other grunt replied, "Got it, but I still don't see why we have to bust our asses over some stupid ball the boss has his eyes on. They didn't even test the thing yet…"

"That's because _you_ botched our last operation by sleeping on the job. If you just had stuck to the plan we wouldn't be the ones doing this dirty work."

Silently the first grunt cut the glass with the mechanism. The sound of successful intrusion perked his ears as he told his partner, "Got it, let's go."

The window was opened silently as the second grunt enters in stealthily. He began to run to the cylindrical machine while the first Team Rocket member began rigging smoke bomb charges near the window they entered from. He was about to do the same task near the employee break room when he gets a silent beep from his partner.

"Great…the simplest job I give him and he manages to screw even that up. As soon as this mission is over, I am requesting a partner transfer," he said to himself as he ran to his partner.

What he and the second grunt didn't count on was the boy. He was holding the prototype pokeball in his hand due to the fact his inquisitive nature compelled him to do so. The first grunt was surprised not only at how they were beaten to their prize by a kid, but also the mystery of how the kid got inside in the first place.

Their cover was blown when the second grunt yelled out, "Hey, Kid! What are you doing?! That's our pokeball, we saw it first-!"

"You moron, you blew our cover," the first rocket grunt yelled back angrily at the second grunt!

The boy was startled at this outburst, and apparently he wasn't the only one. The lab personnel heard it also while they were having a peaceful dinner. Elm, worried about the prototype, ran head first through the door followed by his team and the security staff on duty. They opened the door to find the boy also holding the ball and Team Rocket.

The security members reached for their pokeballs while shouting, "Freeze! Don't move a muscle!"

Frightened, the boy made a run for it. The two rocket grunts tried to the same but the security guards made sure that their escape was impossible. Elm ran after the boy and was hot on his trail.

"You there, stop!" he shouted to the boy.

The boy was running and panting. In his mind, the poor soul thought he was pegged as criminal since he was the one holding the ball. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was run. He ran into the forest on the outskirts of the laboratory. The trees blazed by in a straight line, giving the boy a sense of acceleration as he ran past them. Elm, panting, was still behind him yelling out to the boy only to fall on deaf ears. As the boy ran, his raincoat got snagged by one of the trees, and he was stuck for a brief moment. Determined to not be caught, he tried to break the twig by running, only to be dragged back by the tree's twig. Leaving no choice and with Professor Elm closing in, the boy only had one option left aside from being captured.

He quickly untied his raincoat and ran again freely, but got soaked by the roaring rain. The professor ran past the raincoat. He would collect it later once the boy and the prototype were safely returned. In his eyes, he didn't know why the boy was running away from him. He was sure that the boy was innocent and didn't mean any ill intention. While the ball did mean everything to his pride as a researcher, the safety of a child was an even higher priority. The water rasped harshly against both his and the boy's face and bodies. None of the two had protective rain cover on as their clothes absorbed the drops of rain that fell upon them. As the line of trees began to spread farther apart, a clear sense of direction showed what lay ahead. The tree line revealed a cliff side at the end of the forest. To an expert pokemon trainer and researcher, it means that there is a huge drop, and at the end of that drop lay the deep ocean and rocks protruding out. If any a poor soul was to land amongst these rocks, there was a high chance they would not make it back alive.

The poor boy, who neither was a trainer nor a researcher, realized this too late. Upon his last ditch effort to return back to the shore, he slipped and fell over the cliffside because of the murky and slippery mud below his feet. He reached out and cried for help as Elm quickened his pace, frightened and alarmed. The boy was out of hand's reach so Elm desperately threw one end of his lab coat in hopes to catch the boy. The boy grasped the sleeve wrist of the coat with his only free hand as he dangled above the rocks and tormenting waters below.

Elm, holding his coat as firmly and as hard as he could, looked over the edge to see the boy was still safe, "It's ok! I'll save you, just hang on for me, ok?!" The boy nodded but was still scared out of his mind. Elm slowly and carefully began to pull the boy up. He was making good progress, but the boy felt like he was slipping.

"Mister, I'm slipping!" he cried out to Elm.

"Just hold on tight! I've almost got you."

The boy was nearly at hand's reach until the worst happened. The boy's grip slipped and the boy began to fall.

"No!" Elm cried out and tried to lurch out to grab the boy, only to miss by a few mere seconds.

The images that followed would haunt Elm's mind, images of the boy's scared face as he fell to the rock and waters below and the images of the sea that swallowed the boy as rescue, security, and fellow lab staff reached Professor Elm. Many possibilities echoed in Elm's mind, but the boy's fate was unknown. And so too, was the fate of the prototype ball that the boy held in his hand…


End file.
